Liquid food or beverage preparation machines are well known in the food science and consumer goods areas. Such machines allow a consumer to prepare at home a given type of food or beverage, for instance a coffee-based beverage, such as espresso or filter coffee.
Today, many beverage preparation machines for in-home use comprise a system which can accommodate portioned beverage ingredients. Such portions may be contained typically in pods, sachets or capsules.
The machine comprises a receptacle or cavity for accommodating said portioned beverage ingredients and a fluid injection system for injecting a fluid, such as water, under pressure into the pod or capsule. Thus the fluid, for example hot or cold water, passes through the capsule or pod and delivers a liquid food or beverage.
The beverage preparation machine usually comprises a machine head where the receptacle for accommodating said portioned beverage ingredients is situated, and a machine body containing other functional components of the machine, such as a water pump, a water heater and a controlling unit which manage the functional components of the machine in order to prepare a beverage. The beverage is prepared taking into account beverage preparation parameters of the machine. The values of certain beverage preparation parameters are set by a user of the beverage preparation machine by means of a Human-Machine Interface (HMI).
The Human-Machine Interface comprises a control panel comprising actuators which allow the user to select and/or to set the values of certain beverage preparation parameters. For example, the control panel of current beverage preparation machines may comprise push buttons or tactile touch screen areas by means of which a user may select a recipe from among a plurality of recipes, a fluid volume, a fluid temperature, a pressure or an infusion time. According to the selections made by the user, certain beverage preparation parameters are set to predetermined values.
The Human-Machine Interface also contains electronic circuits and electric/electronic connexions between push buttons and/or tactile touch screen areas of the control panel and the electronic circuits. The user's selections are electronically treated and transmitted to the controlling unit which takes them into account in preparing the beverage.
The Human-Machine Interface is positioned in the machine head, close to the receptacle or cavity for accommodating the portioned beverage ingredients and where the fluid, such as water, is injected.
Therefore, due to the proximity of the Human-Machine Interface and the receptacle where fluid is injected, fluid flows close to the Human-Machine Interface. Even if beverage preparation machines are designed to avoid fluid leakage, in the event of leakage, electrical components may be in contact with the fluid which could lead to a short circuit that damages the beverage preparation machines.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a food or beverage preparation machine which resolves at least some of the above difficulties making it possible to improve in the prevention of short circuits and thus to provide additional safety for users manipulating the interface system of the food or beverage preparation machine.